After you have achieved final approval for your rough cut, or “picture lock”, you can begin calling in final versions from your outside sources.

If you have been working with a graphics animator and have been receiving renders all through the approval process, there’s a good chance that the last version you received will be the only one you need for finishing. However, if their work is contingent on compositing graphics on top of your edited footage, you will have to coordinate with them so that they receive what they need in its final form, and then they can provide you with a rendered file that is compatible with your master. This is especially true if you are offlining in SD, but onlining in HD, or offlining in DV (720 x 480), but onlining in D-1 (720 x 486).

From a workflow perspective, if you are offlining in the same format and resolution as your mastering format/resolution, and your footage is already color corrected, then whatever you provide your graphics animator will be fine for them to make a final composite. However, if you are working in a two-phase process of offlining in low resolution/not final color corrected video, then re-transferring the negative for final color correction in broadcast quality, you will have to wait until you receive your final footage before you can pass along the video clips for compositing or visual fx. Take this into consideration if you have a tight deadline and your graphics and visual fx will require a long time to render.

You should discuss with the animator whether you want them to provide you with graphics with an alpha channel, or whether you would prefer their graphics to be rendered over final footage and delivered ready to drop right into your final timeline. From your point of view, the answer to this depends on time constraints and the nature of the effects work itself. If the animation is simply typographic animation layered over background video, I prefer having just the type animation on black with an embedded alpha channel. This prevents the possibility of the base video layer becoming altered in any way through the process of the animator’s rendering process. It’s not as if I don’t trust animators, it’s that QuickTime, Final Cut Pro, and AfterEffects are affected by constant software and codec updates in ways that sometimes change the color of footage as it passes through various export/render/import procedures. Why ask for trouble? FCP is capable of accepting footage with an embedded alpha channel that will layer cleanly over your footage.

As mentioned in the Pre-Production phase, you should have already established the file exchange format and the finishing specs for the final renders. If the effects work involves effects that can only be done in AfterEffects, such as distortions, color effects, compositing, chroma keying, etc., then the animator will need to provide you with ready-to-use fully rendered files. The most important thing you can do to is to agree on the exchange specs ahead of time. Do a test to make sure there are no surprises like a shift in gamma due to cross platform codec conversions. Export a couple clips out of FCP in the correct format/standard, and include SMPTE bars. When you receive a rendered file back from the animator, put the clip on another video track and switch back and forth between them, or look at the vectorscope tool.

Since most graphics animation is done in AfterEffects, you should learn some basics of the program just so you can speak the language and be an active participant in getting the work done right.

With music companies, you might be able to use their original file as a final source for the mix. But if you were provided an .mp3 file for working purposes, try to get an uncompressed AIFF or WAV file and re-insert it into your sequence. Digital broadcast video uses 48k digital audio. Music composers, however, work in 44k (same format as CD audio). Advise them to do a sample rate conversion prior to delivering files to you.

Also, if there will be a final mix at a studio, find out if the producer or mix engineer would want to have instrument splits. If so, order it.